1 Step Forward…2 Steps Back

Once again, we find ourselves with Mercury creeping backward in a water sign. Thankfully, we only have six days of it this time. The remainder of the retrograde will be in the air sign Aquarius.

Eleven months ago, Mercury stationed direct and ended his retrograde period at 5o Pisces 38’ on March 17, 2013. This year, Mercury stationed retrograde at 3o Pisces 20’ (yesterday). In a way, he’s picking up where he left off last year.

The end of a retrograde period is more poignant than the beginning and last year’s station direct was very poignant (and painful) for me personally. Wouldn’t you know it, in this first day of retrograde, an echo of last year’s happenings reverberated. And, being that Mercury is in Pisces, the sign of emotional receptivity and reaction, I recoiled. My day started off with an overall feeling of frustration.

My thinking (for all of you) is the following: if this Mercury retrograde is going to cause you to fret (emotionally), it will do so in these first 6 days. After that, you will be better able to deal with Mercury’s biddings intellectually.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the best way to deal with Mercury retrograde is to go with it. Allow Mercury to take you back. Follow his lead. Yeah, we don’t like redoing things we thought were complete, but if Mercury is taking you back to something, that means it is not as complete as it could be and just might need an adjustment or two. A tweak now can save you from a system crash later…

So, going with the flow, let’s look back on a few things.

Last Friday, Venus stationed direct ending her retrograde period. One aspect I failed to mention specifically in Venus Station Direct was the Jupiter-Pluto opposition that happened early that morning. That event was both synchronistic and aligned with the Venus Station and fell in between it and the Aquarius new moon.

Jupiter in Cancer opposing Pluto in Capricorn may be highlighting mothering/fathering issues for you (for all of us). If you happen to be an Aries or Libra, then it’s likely affecting you even more—same goes for some of you with Aries or Libra rising.

Mothering and fathering need not solely be something that exists between parents and children. There are plenty of times in life when we get to mother (nurture) and father (support) other people, projects, and animals. Mothering and fathering are archetypal roles that we all play at some time or another.

As adults, we are now primarily responsible for mothering and fathering ourselves. If we are not doing this well, then we have to make a change. This may mean we have to be more nurturing of ourselves. Maybe we need to push ourselves more or maybe less. Venus’ role in all of this is to make sure we are caring. When we are caring, we are nurturing and/or supportive. When we are careless, we are suffocating and/or stern.

If you are a Leo or Leo Rising, Aquarius or Aquarius Rising, you’ll have some of this hitting you in another way. For those of you in this group, Saturn is applying his influence by sitting in your 4th or 10th house. When I had Saturn in my 10th house, it was great, but Saturn in my 4th house has been very rough!

If you are Capricorn, Cancer, Aries, or Taurus and/or have any of those signs on the ascendant, then challenges could be showing up in your relationship. Spouses can easily get entangled with mothering/fathering issues as part of the bond. Again, nurturing and supportive are what everyone wants in a relationship, but manipulating and controlling are what no one wants.

The nuances abound, and the only way to really iron out the details is a personal chart reading. Know that I am available to nurture and support your journey as best I can.

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you want, and these days, I feel very experienced! 🙂